The United States, Canada and Mexico are seeking measures to prevent the spread of African swine fever to North America. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says ?it?s important that we function together as one,? in speaking on the effort to keep the disease from spreading.
African swine fever has spread through China?s hog populations and parts of Europe, sparking fear of further spread globally. Market analysts say if the disease spreads to the United States, it could curb shipments in the $6.5 billion export market for American pork.
The highly contagious disease can cause death for hogs in just two days. The disease is not harmful to humans, but there is no vaccine for hogs and transmission of the disease can occur easily through contact between animals, or through contaminated feed, and even humans traveling from a contaminated site to an uncontaminated site.
